Building construction



L. L. ELDRIDGE.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, I920.

1,875,955, Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

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BUILDNG CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1920.

1,375,955., I Patented. Apr. 26, 1921.

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LEONARD I. ELDRIDGE, OF DALLAS, TEXAS.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION. v

' Application filed April 19,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEoNAizn L. ELDRIDGE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas,have invented certain new and use- ''ful Improvements in BuildingConstructions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful lmprovements 1n bulldlngconstructions.

The aim of the lnventlon is to construct a hollow building wall ofpre-cast slabs in such a manner as to make for economy, stability,convenience and rapidity of erection. Another purpose of the inventlonis to provide a wall construction capable of including insulatingmembers whereby transmission of heat and cold through the wall isobviated, together with other novel features which will be hereinafterbrought out.

In carrying out the invention an elon-. gated slab is employed, thisslab is provided with a laterally projecting tongue extending lon'tudinally, whereby the slab is given a T-s ape in plan. A particularfeature is the continuation of'the tongue or web of the slab beyond itsend whereby these extensions may interlock with the supporting structureunder the slabs and the cap structure over the same, when said slabs areplaced vertically in a wall. It is roposed to make the slabs of suchlength that when erected only one slab will be required for the heightof a story of a building and thus in a one story building the slabs maybe set on a suitable foundation wall and extend vertically to the top ofthe building where a cap platemay be cast on the same. By providing theextending tongues at the ends of the slabs, keys are formed and thesemay be let into the foundation wall and the body of the cap plate sothat the structure will be locked together. It is understood that theslabs are placed with their tongues in alternate relation so as to formboth side's of the wall. It is pointed out that such a structure will besufficiently smooth as not to require a finished coating in roughstructures such as ware-houses. The structure permits of the use ofembedded anchoring and bonding devices as well as reinforcing.

Vertical insulating strips of wood may also be used between the tonguesand the bodies of the slabs. Where anchors or bonds project from thesides of the wall a coating of plaster may be applied to concealSpecification of Letters Patent "1 Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

1920. Serial No. 375,027.

the same. 'Other details of construction and arrangement will behereinafter pointed out.

ThBlIlVGIliilOIl will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanymg drawings, inwhich an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

Flgure 1 is an isometric view of a Wall gonstructed in accordance withthis invenlon,

151g. 2 is a vertical sectional detail of the wa Fig. 3 is across-sectional view showing the insulating strip in place and anchorsembedded in the wall,

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view through a wall show ng the use ofbonding bolts, and

ibjig. 5 1s a cross-section of a wall such as is shown 1n- F1g. 1 andillustrating the formatlon of an opening for a door or a window.

-In the drawings the numeral 10 designates a slab having a plate-likebody extending longitudinally and provided with a central tongue or web11 extending longitudinally of the slab and at the center thereof. Oneof the particular features is that the tongue 11 pro ects beyond eachend of the body of the slab to 'form keys 12 and 13. The slab may beformed of concrete or any other plastic material in a suitable mold andthe idea is to pre-cast the slabs and transport them to the place wherethe wall is to be built and assemble said slabs in a wall. It is obviousthat the slab may be cast at the exact length required and the widthmaybe varied as desired.

It is proposed to make the slab of such lengths that only one will berequired for the height of a one story building or for each story of abuilding. It is pointed out that a slab so constructed is quite adifferent thing from a building block as it permits the building to bemore quickly erected and does not require the services of an expertmason. In building a wall a foundation wall or underpinning 14: is firstprovided in the usual way. This wall is provided with a longitudinalgroove 15 in its upper surface and, of course, is given a width inexcess of the width or thickness of the wall which is to be constructed.The slabs 10 are set up on the wall with their ends resting on top ofthe same and their keys 12 depending in the groove 15. The slabs aredisposed on each side of the groove with their tongues inalternate-relation so as to form bothsides of the Wall. By thisarrangement the oints between adjacent slabs will bisect vertically theend .of the tongue from the overlapplng slab of the opposite side of thewall. The slabs may have such thickness that those placed on the outsideof the wall w1ll not extend to the edge of the Wall 14, thus leaving aWater table at the bottom of the slabs. The wall 14 extends inwardlyfrom the 1nner side of the wall and provides a shoulder for receivingthe floor joists as is shown in Fi 2.

It will be seen that the slabs having been pre-cast may be transportedto the place where the building is to be erected and set up on the wall14 expeditiously and with ordinary labor. After the slabs have been setup concrete may be poured into the groove 15 between the keys 12. Whenthe concrete sets the keys will be locked in the foundation wall andcannot be displaced. It Will be seen that vertical air spaces will beprovided within the wall between the tongues and all the advantages of ahollow wall construction will be had. It is customary to run a beltcourse at each story of a building or in a one story building to use acap plate at the top of the wall. In order to finish the wall, metalstirrups 16 in the form of sheet metal plates are placed between theupstandin keys 13 with their ends resting on the s abs at opposite sidesof the wall as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Concrete is thenpoured in between the keys and along the top edges of the bodies of theslabs so as to form a cap plate 17. The stirrup supports the concreteand prevents the same from falling down between the tongues.- Thisprovides a suitable finish as will be obvious. The construction permitsof variations and will adapt itself readily to the various conditionsencountered.

It is to be understood that any sort of reinforcing may be used and itis not considered necessary to either illustrate or go into the detailsof the same as no invention is required to use or insert reinforcingmaterial such as rods and other well known elements.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a form of wall in which T-shaped anchors 18 areemployed. These anchors have the general shape of the slab and areembedded therein with the shanks 19 projecting from the vertical edge ofthe tongue'll in each slab. When the slabs are assembled the projectingends of the shanks will extend between the vertical ed es of the slabson the oppositeside of the we 1 and may receive washers 20 and nuts 21threaded thereon. Vertical wood strips 22 or strips of other material,may be inserted between the vertical edges of the tongues and the innerfaces of the bodies of the slabs on the opposite side of the wall.

with em edded bonds 23 which have their projecting ends extendin fromthe tongue 11 between the edges of t e slabs on the opposite side. Thebonds are provided with washers 24 and nuts 25. It will be noticed thatin Fig. 3 the anchors are combined with the slabs on one side of thewall so that the nuts 21 are all on one side of the wall only; whereasin Fig. 4 the bonds are placed in alternate slabs so that the nuts 25are on both sides of the wall. The wall structure in Fig. 3 wouldrequire a coat of plaster on one side only for a finished wall, whereasthe wall shown in Fig. 4 requires plaster on both sides. However, thestructure shown in Fig. 4 could be used to advantage in ware-houses andother rough constructions.

In Fig. 5 the corner of the wall is shown and one of the slabs 10 ismolded or cast with one side out off to provide for an open- 7 ing inthe wall such as a door or window. The space between the tongue 11 ofthe slab 10 and its vertical edge of its near side is filled by a woodstrip 26 and the inner corner of the opening is formed b a verticalstrip 27 suitably fastened to t e strip 26. These strips 26 and 27 formfalse work to which the door frame or window frame may be attached as isobvious. It will be understood that the slabs may be cast with the ton eoffset from the center if desired as is s own in this instance andvarious other changes and modifications may be made.

In order to fasten the upper ends of the slabs together, tie rods 28 areinterlaced horizontall around the ke s 13 as is best shown in ld igs. 2and 3. These rods cross each other in the spaces between .the keys andeach rod bears on opposite sides of the keys in alternate relation aswill be obvious.

. Such a construction will securely fasten the slabs together and willprovide an added brace for the top of the wall. These tie rods are, ofcourse, embedded in the cap plate.

What I claim, is: 1. In a buildin wall including a p uralit ofoppositely arranged slabs formed T-sliaped in cross section, T'-shapedreinforcing metallic elements embedded in the slabs in one set andextending through the transverse portions thereof and through the otherset, and clamping devicescarried by the ends of the reinforcingconstruction, a hollow elements and engaging the outer surface of slabsin one set and extending through the such other set. transverse portionof the same and through 2. In a building construction, a hollow the bodyportion of the slabs in the other Wall including a pluralit ofoppositely arset and through the heat insulating strips,

5 ranged slabs formed T-s aped in cross secand means securing the endsof said elements 15 tion, heat insulatin strips arranged beto the bodyportion of the slabs in such other tween the ends of t e transverseportions set. 0 of the slabs in one set and the body portion Intestlmony whereof I aflix my signature. of the slabs inthe other set,T-shaped rein- 10 forcing metallic elements embedded in the LEONARD L.ELDRIDGE.

